5 quarterbacks Browns can sign/draft to replace Baker Mayfield

The Cleveland Browns have a big decision to make this offseason regarding Baker Mayfield.

Four years into the Baker Mayfield era of Cleveland Browns football and it still remains to be seen if he is worth investing in as a franchise quarterback.

Though he is closer to Case Keenum than he is Drew Brees, Mayfield is good enough to start on any number of teams in the NFL. However, his time in Cleveland might be running out. Mayfield is under contract for one more season, thanks to his fifth-year option coming out of Oklahoma, but there is a chance the front office is ready to move on from another regime’s major investment.

If the Browns want to sign Mayfield’s successor or take one in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft, here are five names to keep an eye on in that regard.

Cleveland Browns: 5 replacements for Baker Mayfield at quarterback in 2022

Andy Dalton is a serviceable stop-gap quarterback with success in the division

While there is no reason to get excited about this one, it is a possibility. Andy Dalton has started games on and off the last few years with the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears. Though he may still view himself as a starter, Dalton is at-best a stop-gap quarterback in the league. If that is the direction the Browns want to go in for a year, then they can kick the tires on the old Red Rifle.

What gets lost in all this is Dalton was a very good quarterback for nearly a decade with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was a multi-time Pro Bowler and regularly led the Browns’ in-state rival to the AFC playoffs. Given how well he played on many of those excellent Marvin Lewis Bengals teams, this is not the worst option to consider. At the very least, Dalton would be rather cheap.

The only real downside to joining the Browns is it would massively ding Dalton’s Bengals legacy.